President Director (Director) of the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency (BAKTI) of the Ministry of Communication and Information ( Kemenkominfo ) Anang Latif said the construction base transceiver station ( BTS ) fourth-generation technology of the first phase of the
"From this percentage, around 1,900 locations have been on air from the target of 4,200 places in 2022," as published on the kominfo.go.id , Friday (14/4/2022).
BTS of the first phase of 4G Anang Latif , will continue to be accelerated and is targeted for completion in 2022.
He explained that construction of 4G BTS will be carried out at 3,704 locations. This development will be carried out in stages in accordance with fiscal availability.
The existing budget will be allocated for the construction of 4G BTS in 2022 as many as 2,300 locations," explained the Ministry of Communication and Informatics' BAKTI Office, South Jakarta (South Jakarta), Friday.
It is important to note that the development of the BTS network, which is being intensified by the government evenly throughout Indonesia, is an effort to accelerate digital transformation.
The provision of 4G signals and internet access that is built does not only focus on urban areas, but also in remote, residential villages as well as the outermost, underdeveloped, and leading (3T) areas.
Anang Latif said the construction of 4G BTS is part of his party's efforts to encourage inclusive digital economic growth.
"The government (through the Ministry of Communication and Informatics) has carried out an even distribution of 4G BTS development on the basis that no one will be left behind or no one will be left behind," he said.
The construction of 4G BTS will be supported by the gradual allocation of State Revenue and Expenditure Budget (APBN) which is adjusted to the government's fiscal capacity.
For the nominal APBN allocated for the construction of 4,200 BTS 4G network locations, the total reaches Rp. 11 Trillion.
“One of the biggest components for material delivery logistics costs. This is because many development sites do not yet have basic physical infrastructure such as roads, so they must be reached by helicopter," explained Anang Latif.
In addition to the APBN, the Ministry of Communication and Information has also received support from cellular operators in providing signals in the 3T area. For this reason, the Ministry of Communication and Informatics appreciates this support.
According to Anang Latif, cellular operators and vendors are very supportive of the signal supply program.
"Currently, people in several 3T areas have started to take advantage of the BTS network that has been built by BAKTI," he said.
The good news, continued Anang Latif, is that payments to vendors do not experience problems because the budget is available and the payment terms for progress have been regulated in the contract.
Digital infrastructure development is not easy
On that occasion, Anang Latif revealed that the development of digital infrastructure in remote villages is not an easy thing.
Various challenging conditions, such as natural geography, logistical problems, transportation, and the availability of human resources (HR) are obstacles in themselves.
BAKTI Kemenkominfo itself builds BTS 4G in 3T areas which are very difficult to reach. In fact, many villages do not yet have proper electric road infrastructure.
"So the delivery of materials to the location of the 4G BTS is mostly done on foot and using carts or using traditional boats to cross the ocean or rivers," added Anang Latif.
According to him, the mountainous region of Papua requires air transportation for the means of transporting materials and equipment.
This is because the availability of transportation is not proportional to the amount of material. Moreover, during the Covid-19 pandemic, restrictions on the mobility of people and goods also affected supply chain for BTS construction.
"It can be seen that between the material on area (MOA) and material on site (MOS) stages there is a gap. So the material is already available at points in the area, waiting for transportation to the destination point, which is generally quite a difficult field, "said Anang Latif.
Not only that, he continued, there is also a gap between MOS and ready for service (RFS). This means that all equipment, both materials and accessories, have completed the installation process and are ready to be integrated with the services of telecommunication operators.
Meanwhile, at the global level, there is currently a shortage of microchip , which has an impact on the availability of several telecommunications equipment.
"There is a global shortage ( global shortage ) in the supply of microchips also has an impact on supply of several telecommunications equipment used in the construction of BTS," added Anang Latif.
In addition, he said, security disturbances are a challenge, especially in Papua.
As is known, the number of BTS locations built in Papua and West Papua currently reaches around 65 percent of the total network built by BAKTI throughout Indonesia.
"On Wednesday (2/32022), there was a shooting attack in Puncak Regency that killed eight workers. From this incident, implementation work in almost all of Papua Province was stopped on instructions from the Papuan authorities," explained Anang Latif.
Despite many obstacles in development, the acceleration of the distribution of 4G BTS in the 3T area continues.
Anang Latif also admitted that he was optimistic that the target for the construction of 4G BTS in Indonesia would be achieved in 2022.
"All these challenges and problems did not dampen the government's determination to continue providing 4G signals and internet access for people in the 3T area," he said.
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